yea, the two things that define baseball are almost impossible to do in the rain, and it has nothing to do athleticism. Pitching and hitting are nearly impossible to do in the rain regardless of athleticism. I can make ridiculous arguments too, how 'bout those NFL QB's? Real athletes...grab ball take 7 steps back, jump up and down repeatedly on the balls of your feet and throw, or better yet...grab ball take a step back turn around place ball in another guys mid section, wow hard stuff there. All comes down to one thing, if it was easy we could all do it.

Catching 120 gms a year is brutal, and every pitcher doesn't throw the same ball, there are guys that throw 95 and they're easier to catch than some guys that throw 89/90. We've all heard it, and some guys do throw a heavy ball, and try catching the guy who's ball seems to explode ten ft out from home, it's not fun.

-Infinity timeouts. In just about every other sport you don't get to call timeout if you aren't set. -Would love to see how far players run on average per game or even per season.-What other sport do players actually play with tobacco in their lip? Would you ever see someone in an olympic event run around with a big dip of Redman under their lip?-Why chew tobacco anyway? Game is so boring you need to keep yourself occupied?-How many baseball players actually hustle? I mean is it too much to ask to sprint 30 yards twice per game? Most players run about 60%.-Steroids. Yes you can point out NFL guys get suspended a lot too. But they actually hit the weights and also have legitimate wear and tear on their bodies. If baseball players hit the weights in on their off days instead of the golf courses, they wouldn't need to be juicing. -Just google obscure baseball injuries.-Managers coming out to yell at umpires (wearing uniforms lol). Honestly what could you possibly be screaming about for 3 minutes straight? Also what percent of the time do the umpires change their call?

If baseball wasn't playing during the summer months in nice weather it would be a distant 4th among the major US leagues. Its an excuse to be outside and enjoy nice weather. Most of the times the result is secondary hence 162 games.

This is coming from someone who grew up playing so I am not just a hater.

IamtheWaris wrote:-Steroids. Yes you can point out NFL guys get suspended a lot too. But they actually hit the weights and also have legitimate wear and tear on their bodies. If baseball players hit the weights in on their off days instead of the golf courses, they wouldn't need to be juicing. .

Baseball is definitely not my favorite sport, and I don't follow it nearly as closely as hockey, football...heck, even golf . That being said, some of the arguments against baseball in this thread sound incredibly neanderthal-ish to me.

FOOT BALL PLAYERS MANLY. BASEBALL PLAYERS SISSY. FOOTBALL PLAYER GO BOOM INTO NOTHER PLAYER, PLAYER NEED ICE BATH BUT HE PLAY NEXT GAME. BASEBALL PLAYER TOUCH OTHER TEAM, HE HURT HIMSELF AND GO BYE BYE FOR A WHILE.

GSdrums87 wrote:Just like hockey. Some people have heavy shots...like no matter where it hits the goalie first it still just goes in.

I played with a guy in college who was like that. We both had pretty hard shots (gunned in the low 90s), but goaltenders said that the other guy's shots felt like little tiny Mack trucks. He said he actually MacInnis'd one keeper in high school; hit him square on and broke one of the guy's ribs.

IamtheWaris wrote:-Steroids. Yes you can point out NFL guys get suspended a lot too. But they actually hit the weights and also have legitimate wear and tear on their bodies. If baseball players hit the weights in on their off days instead of the golf courses, they wouldn't need to be juicing. .

lol

I knew of someone who boasted of barely working out yet he was huge. He was drafted by the Rockies. When he inevitably failed a drug test he played the same I don't know what it could have been card that is always played.

Playing 162 games in 6 months is not easy. I played a lot of baseball when I was younger and into my 20's and I can tell you playing 65 to 85 games a year seems easy, but once you're done you don't want to look at a baseball for a couple of months, even though travel. hotel all are first class I can't imagine playing a full ML season and everything that goes in to it....

Different sports have different levels of skill vs. raw athleticism. Being able to hit both a 95 mph fastball and a 70 mph curveball with 12 inches of break is an incredible skill. Especially since you don't know what's coming and have to make a decision in fractions of a second. It seems like the anti baseball crowd is weighing raw athleticism (pure speed / strength / ect.) a little more than skills (coordination / anticipation). That's all fine and well, but baseball is absolutely not a joke. Not trying to open another can of worms, but the same can be said for golf. A lot of times, the same people saying that it's a joke and not a sport are the same ones that would shoot 125 if they tried to play 18.

All that being said, I tend to weigh raw athleticism a little higher too, but it's fun debate to have.

Anyway, to get back on topic:1. Crosby2. Cutch3. Malkin4. Roethlisburger5. Antonio BrownHM: Timmon, Letang, Liriano, Heath Miller, Polomalu (Troy would have been top 3 until recently)

IamtheWaris wrote:-Steroids. Yes you can point out NFL guys get suspended a lot too. But they actually hit the weights and also have legitimate wear and tear on their bodies. If baseball players hit the weights in on their off days instead of the golf courses, they wouldn't need to be juicing. .

lol

I knew of someone who boasted of barely working out yet he was huge. He was drafted by the Rockies. When he inevitably failed a drug test he played the same I don't know what it could have been card that is always played.

MLB has 40 rounds, not all of those are ever going to be MLB players. So, yea... sure its easier to get drafted I'd imagine. That being said, if he actually went farther than just being drafted I gurantee he started taking working out more serious ( Kevin Durant couldn't lift 185 pounds before the draft)

I can hear the raspberries coming now — “You dolt, Pouncey’s one of the best centers in the NFL, and he’s made the Pro Bowl each of his three pro seasons!” Well … that’s all technically true. “Pouncey” is one of the best centers in the NFL if you’re referring to Mike Pouncey, who plays for the Miami Dolphins. And while brother Maurkice is a good player, it’s a struggle to rate him among the best at his position after his 2012 season. We will give him a relative pass on his four sacks allowed (only the now-retired Todd McClure of the Falcons allowed more among centers in 2012) and seven quarterback hits and hurries allowed (fourth among centers with at least 750 snaps) because Ben Roethlisberger has a tendency to run into pressure at the best of times. But power centers need to dominate in the run game, and Pouncey had six blown blocks in that department.In addition, the Steelers ranked 31st up the middle in FO’s Adjusted Line Yards metric, which puts the focus on the center to a large degree. Pouncey struggled through injuries last year, and most of the Steelers’ offensive line was a problem, but more should be expected from a guy perceived as the best in the game at his position. Pouncey was good in 2012, but he’ll need a rebound in the new season if he’s to live up to his reputation